Hideo Kojima studio threatens legal action over false link to Shinzo Abe killing

Soon after the assassination, trolls on the on the net forum 4chan posted a collection of racist jokes “identifying” the shooter working with images of Kojima, the legendary 58-year-outdated sport designer of “Metal Equipment Solid” and “Death Stranding” fame, as described by Kotaku. French comedian Georges Jordito reposted the falsehood on Twitter. He eventually deleted his posts, but not just before they have been retweeted by much-ideal French politician Damien Rieu. Rieu then manufactured a different tweet utilizing pics of Kojima accompanied by a phrase translating to “the much-still left kills.” Rieu later deleted the tweet and issued an apology.

This circulation of misinformation finally led to Greek news station ANT1 and Iranian outlet Mashregh News submitting tales about Abe’s assassination with photos of Kojima, as reported by Vice.

We are living in Hideo Kojima’s dystopian nightmare. Can he save us?

Kojima Productions, the designer’s studio, shared a statement on Twitter referring to the “fake news and rumors that convey bogus information” as libelous, and stated the business “will take into consideration having legal action in some scenarios.”

Kojima, who tweets often, has not created a private assertion about the subject, opting just to reshare the official Kojima Productions tweet.

This is not the initial time that Kojima has been embroiled in a conspiracy idea. In April 2021, Dutch game studio Blue Box introduced a expose trailer for its future horror game, “Abandoned,” which some viewers interpreted as a clandestine Silent Hill or Kojima Productions undertaking. Blue Box launched a statement clarifying that it had no backlinks to Kojima shortly following the buzz. In October 2021, Blue Box tweeted that its employees had gained demise threats as a final result of the ambiguity.

Kojima’s get the job done generally explores the opportunity risks of mass interaction. “Metal Equipment Sound 2: Sons of Liberty,” originally introduced in 2001 and now regarded one particular of the best movie game titles of all time, was an specially prescient title that prophesied a entire world filled with bogus information, digital echo chambers and even memes right before we had a language for such points.

Kojima’s hottest title, 2019′s “Death Stranding,” is about a courier touring throughout a fractured, write-up-apocalyptic United States and linking disparate towns into a single community. It is a activity about the dangers of isolationism and the worth of building bridges — both equally figurative and literal. “Death Stranding” has been hailed as a visionary sport that resonated deeply with gamers since of its launch in just a month of the start out of the covid-19 pandemic.